Managing Type 2 Diabetes with CrossFit 4504

The focus of our program here at CrossFit 4504 is about guiding our members to find wellness and avoid the current rate people are succumbing to chronic diseases such as metabolic diseases, lack of function in body e.g. unable to move themselves, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and a whole raft of others.

CrossFit the training methodology has a different focus than CrossFit the sport and thats an important differentiation to make. We are training and supporting our members to get more from life and to lead a better quality of life.

Lee’s story below is an example of how successful our program can be, when used in conjunction with a healthy diet, and working closely with allied health professionals to guide their progress. Having a medical condition doesn’t mean you have to or should opt out of physical activity, with the right team behind you and the right advice and support, you can improve from where you are now, and have better long term outcomes.Coach Lisa

When I was young I put a lot of weight on very quickly.

Lee – Type 2 Diabetic & CrossFitter

In high school I was pretty active, I ran, played sports but in my first six months out of school I had a “uni student” diet and no exercise at all. The result of this sudden surge of inactivity, processed food and weight gain was that I would be diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes at twenty years old.

Twenty years later I still live with Diabetes but I’m proud to say that it’s managed well through a combination of food, medication and of course CrossFit.

It wasn’t always like this though.

At twenty, nothing will kill you. At least that’s what you subconsciously believe and the problem with a disease like Diabetes Type 2 is that it sneaks up on you. It takes your life bit by bit, quietly without you noticing it. Your life expectancy drops by ten years, your quality of life towards the end takes an even sharper drop. But it doesn’t happen straight away and you can ignore it for years, stubbornly, angrily, like I did.

At my lowest point I was sick, I had severe nosebleeds all the time, ten years on it had caught up with me. I eventually and reluctantly went to see the doctor and she said simply, that I was now at critical and if I didn’t make changes I was going to die.

Lots of medication. Not at insulin just yet which was something but I had a bunch of pills to take and a diet to change and exercise to do.

I made changes, but I struggled a lot. I relapsed into bad habits after I got my first frozen shoulder.

But then I discovered functional fitness at a local gym. Lots of varied functional movements like sledgehammers and tire flips. Movements that made sense and were fun and frankly addictive. I got my blood sugars down to just off normal, that is to say, the numbers that a non-diabetic has.

Then the second frozen shoulder happened, and the progress stalled and I think the program itself lacked something I needed. At the same time, my Doctor changed and everything spiraled out of control. I was exhausted with it all, and angry again and depressed and to be honest I was scared. I did start power lifting and as much fun as it was, from my personal disease management it didn’t have the impact I needed.

Then I found CrossFit, or maybe it found me. I had up until this point bought into the whole CrossFit is a cult and is bad for you story. My wife was the first to try it and she raved about the positive experience at CrossFit 4504. There was a focus on proper form, options to scale and most importantly a methodology.

When I first started I was asked what my goal was and I said I wanted to be in the best shape I’ve ever been at forty. Physically and mentally, though I kept the mental part to myself. Probably the biggest part of being in the best shape was managing my diabetes, not just throwing pills at it and miserably eating a low GI diet or altogether just ignoring the problem. CrossFit has given me the tools not only inside the gym to monitor and build on my progress but that same mentality follows me into my management of the disease.

Taking part in the 2017 CrossFit Open

I have numbers in my bloodwork that are goals to work towards with my Doctor, we are working on the most effective combination of medication and exercise. Each dreaded blood test is a chance to track more data, work out where I need to work harder. My diet is quite good but it’s not perfect, what I’ve learned though unfortunate trial and error is that some of my indulgences are workable as long as two out of three parts of my plan are working. If I’m consistent with my medication and my training then there’s some leeway with my diet (not a free for all but I’ll take whatever slack I can get).

The approach CrossFit takes to exercise has completely changed my Diabetes experience, the mixture of heavy lifting and metabolic conditioning has made the medication really effective and as I become better with my diet, which you naturally start doing anyway, I’m confident that I’m going to claw a couple of those years back.

I wish I’d discovered CrossFit years ago, I have complications from the years of neglect that could have been avoided completely instead of managing or trying to reverse the damage.

I can’t stress it enough that if you have Diabetes Type 2 and you want to increase the effectiveness of your medication (or even reduce it) and minimise the impact it can have on your health long term then CrossFit is designed to help.

Come try CrossFit 4504 and see the difference it will make in managing those blood sugars!

For a limited time, we are offering a Complimentary 7 Day Trial so you can experience fully who we are and what we do. Get in touch to get started.